Denver Nuggets

The 76ers' center wasn't selected as an All-Star starter this week, but he helped his case to be the next NBA Most Valuable Player in Saturday's nationally ...

It looked like the Nuggets center had an easy floater, but Jokic lobbed a pass to Aaron Gordon, who tipped it in with less than 10 seconds left in the second quarter and put the Nuggets up 15. and Nikola Jokic helped the Nuggets take a 38-29 lead to the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Nuggets never came up with a way to slow down Embiid. Tucker on Jokic seemed to throw the Nuggets off. The Nuggets led by 15 with 2:27 left in the third before Philadelphia closed the quarter on a 12-0 run. What went right: Porter returned to action after taking some time to be with family and made 4 of his 5 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. While the 76ers won the initial meeting, 124-122, behind Embiid’s 23 points, six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, Jokic also showed his value with 25 points on 9 of 13 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists. Jokic and Embiid both found success against the other team’s back up late in the first quarter and early in the second. 30, 2016: The first matchup between the two served as a sign of things to come. Jokic came up a few rebounds shy of a triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and seven boards. After scoring eight of his points against Jokic in the first six minutes, Embiid headed to the bench. Tucker on Jokic and allowed Embiid to float around the rim while guarding Aaron Gordon.

The Denver Nuggets (34-15) continue their Eastern Conference road trip with a stop against the Philadelphia 76ers (31-16). The teams will be meeting during ...

There is a very similar roster creation around a dominant center in both situations, the blueprint for playing next to Embiid to Jokić is different but not as different as you’d expect. It works well for them as most teams struggle to stop Embiid in the post, but, the Nuggets have a great matchup for him down low. The Sixers like to do a lot of 1 on 1 attacking, whether it’s through Embiid or Harden. The Nuggets won the last meeting between the two but, both teams look different now. Jokić was upgraded to Probable along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray was upgraded to Questionable after all missing the last game. The teams will be meeting during the NBA’s “Rivals Week” and is nationally televised on ABC.

Embiid won his battle with Jokić emphatically, and the Sixers' comeback says a lot about both Philly and Denver at this stage.

The Nuggets didn’t have a way to stop the bleeding in the second half. It’s an intense road game to be clear, and both Hyland and Nnaji are young, but the Nuggets just didn’t get any change-of-pace from the bench in the second half. Jamal Murray wasn’t at his best, and though he had some great moments in the first half, he was 2-of-7 in the second half and just didn’t impact the overall game enough in his minutes. It mucks up the game and Denver’s consistent movement/flow, and the Nuggets will have to have a more consistent answer when the playoffs arrive. Embiid then served as a roamer for much of the second half, trying to much up every action and recover back to Gordon in time to contest shots at the rim. The second half completely flipped the script though with Embiid scoring 28 of his 47 points and leading the Sixers to a major comeback.